Mitch McConnell filibusters his own debt ceiling proposal

On Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed having a vote on a proposal he first raised back in 2011 to allow the president to
unilaterally increase the debt ceiling. Back then, he used it to try to pressure President Obama further on debt ceiling negotiations, attempting to
force Democrats to break a stalemate with this proposal. So he thought he'd try it again now.

“Look: the only way we ever cut spending around here is by using the debate over the debt limit to do it. Now the President wants to remove
that spur to cut altogether. It gets in the way of his spending plans,” McConnell said on the floor of the Senate. “I assure you: it’s not going
to happen. The American people want Washington to get spending under control. And the debt limit is the best tool we have to make the President take
that demand seriously.”

The maneuver is designed to force Democrats to go on record in support of largely removing Congress’s role in the sensitive issue of the
nation’s legal borrowing limit.

Except that it didn't quite work that way. Sen. Harry Reid moved to bring that proposal to the Senate floor this afternoon for a simple
majority vote, and McConnell blocked it.

“This morning the Republican leader asked consent to have a vote on this proposal. Now I told everyone that we are willing to have that vote,
up-or-down vote,” Reid said. “Now the Republican leader objects to his own idea. So I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill.”

And

“The Senate should pass Senator McConnell’s proposal to give the President the authority to avoid the knock-down, drag-out fight we had over the
debt ceiling last year—a fight that caused the first-ever downgrade of this country’s credit, and cost our economy billions. Senator McConnell’s
filibuster prevented us from having this vote today, but I will continue to seek an agreement to hold an up-or-down vote on his proposal to avoid
another debt ceiling debacle.

“After leading three hundred and eighty five filibusters in recent years, Senator McConnell took obstruction to new heights by filibustering his own
bill. Republicans’ obstruction and intransigence turned the last debt ceiling fight into a disaster for the middle-class. We should give American
families the security of knowing we will never go through such a harmful ordeal again.”

And yet the GOP wonders why the public will blame them if the US goes over the "cliff"... and why business leaders are lining up behind Obama's
proposals...

Well, I'll give it this... That linked article is the most creative argument I've yet heard for trying to justify the transfer of fiscal power and
control from the Legislative to Executive branches. I mean, this is going to be a windfall and real grand slam of a time when next we have a
Republican and the Democrat house can be told it's not their concern when debt spending is called for by that future President, right? This is an
issue where there is no compromise possible because it's NOT POSSIBLE. Congress would be dealing away what isn't actually theirs to do that with as
the Constitution spells it out. (Article 1, Section 8 if someone wants to get technical about it.).

What this tells me is that the leadership of both houses, from both parties needs flushed out. They've ALL lost touch with the most basic,
fundamental concepts of what they are THERE for and it's not their OWN self benefit, it's not a political PARTY'S benefit as they seem to have just
taken as a given it must be all about.

I do hope these people recall....The House only serves 2 year terms...and this kind of thing absolutely won't be forgotten. Too many Americans are
now awake and pissed..and people will lose their offices for this cliff garbage if the system is still working in 2014 after that.

McConnell brought up a bill that would allow the President to raise the debt ceiling unilaterally unless Congress mustered a 2/3 majority to
stop him. He assumed Reid would block the vote rather than see it go down in defeat.

Instead, Senator Reid said, "Go ahead, make my day" and McConnell wound up having to filibuster his own bill.

“The Republican leader objects to his own idea,” Reid declared on the floor. “So I guess we have a filibuster of his own bill.”

McConnell claimed he never agreed to hold a simple majority vote on the bill.

“What we’re talking about here is a perpetual debt ceiling grant in effect to the president. Matters of this level of controversy always require
60 votes,” the GOP leader said.

Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin (D-IL) scoffed at that notion that a senator would ask for a vote on a bill in good faith while requiring that it be
“filibuster-proof.”

“This may be a moment in Senate history, when a senator made a proposal that, when given an opportunity for a vote on that proposal,
filibustered his own proposal,” he said. “I don’t think this has ever happened before.”

Reid called McConnell out on his bluff. I've followed politics for 30 years, and this is the first time a senator has ever stooped to filibustering
THEIR OWN BILL.

The GOP has sunk to an all-time low. I don't think they grasp just how fed up people have gotten with their obstructionism and maneuvering. Between
Demint's quitting his post in the Senate and Boehner's purging of moderate conservatives as punishment for not towing the line on the Ryan budget, I
honestly don't think the GOP can go any lower.

Originally posted by Wrabbit2000
Well, I'll give it this... That linked article is the most creative argument I've yet heard for trying to justify the transfer of fiscal power and
control from the Legislative to Executive branches. I mean, this is going to be a windfall and real grand slam of a time when next we have a
Republican and the Democrat house can be told it's not their concern when debt spending is called for by that future President, right? This is an
issue where there is no compromise possible because it's NOT POSSIBLE. Congress would be dealing away what isn't actually theirs to do that with as
the Constitution spells it out. (Article 1, Section 8 if someone wants to get technical about it.).

What this tells me is that the leadership of both houses, from both parties needs flushed out. They've ALL lost touch with the most basic,
fundamental concepts of what they are THERE for and it's not their OWN self benefit, it's not a political PARTY'S benefit as they seem to have just
taken as a given it must be all about.

I do hope these people recall....The House only serves 2 year terms...and this kind of thing absolutely won't be forgotten. Too many Americans are
now awake and pissed..and people will lose their offices for this cliff garbage if the system is still working in 2014 after that.

Polls show that the American public OVERWHELMINGLY blame the GOP for this mess, as they should.

It doesn't matter the source really, the MSM has painted the Repubs as the villain and it has stuck. regardless of the sanity in actually going over
the cliff, the United Sheep of America will blame the Republicans and they will pay for it in 2014-2016.

I wish people would stop listening to the MSM...I really-really wish they would. The truth is, this is not going to be near as painful as they are
portraying it and it needs to be done. The deficit must be cut. This is a 50% cut...we are still overspending by 600 billion a year...this is just a
start toward a balanced budget.

We either deal with it now or deal with something much more painful later. I say get a good run and jump off...sanity has to return at some point in
time...er...maybe not.

Thanks for the reply. for the benefit of having clickable links for anyone curious...
Poll 1,
Poll 2

The Polls are interesting and you're right that Obama has his honeymoon numbers for re-election. He definitely won and had the place to set the tone
for how things go. No question.

Something on the second poll tho.. We're in deep trouble by those they asked. The majority supported a combination approach of cuts and taxes to
sovlve the deficit. However, when it came time to break that down? Without a single exception, taxes were overwhelmingly supported and cuts to
anything from medical to military? Strongly opposed.

Indeed... I say Anne Coulter is right and we let this thing run it's natural course. All taxes......no meaningful cuts will be a quick crash to the
bottom and then right and left....sans political hacks and career criminals in office now....can work together to rebuild from the ashes this all
becomes.

You know, that's just it... If this is all defeated then roughly 50% of the nation will believe what "might have been" would always have worked out
'if only allowed to try'. It'll never end for the division in the American public mind on politics. One side or the other HAS to be allowed to let
their ideas run, the more I'm coming to realize things. Given the election results, it's close but not THAT close. The Dems do have the lead at the
moment to set direction.

I guess by default, let their ideas run and run their course? If they work..I'll be the first to eat my words in a year or two...because it they are
going to work we should see numbers heading the right way within 12 months. If they don't work? Good....This nonsense can be buried with the fall of
the Soviets where it belongs and buried forever. Either way, I don't think we get a choice here anyway.

It doesn't matter the source really, the MSM has painted the Repubs as the villain and it has stuck. regardless of the sanity in actually going over
the cliff, the United Sheep of America will blame the Republicans and they will pay for it in 2014-2016.

I wish people would stop listening to the MSM...I really-really wish they would. The truth is, this is not going to be near as painful as they are
portraying it and it needs to be done. The deficit must be cut. This is a 50% cut...we are still overspending by 600 billion a year...this is just a
start toward a balanced budget.

We either deal with it now or deal with something much more painful later. I say get a good run and jump off...sanity has to return at some point in
time...er...maybe not.

I think blaming the "MSM" is part of the problem.

People distrust the "MSM" more now than they ever have and people get their news from a wider variety of sources than ever.

The issue isn't the source of the news, it's that people are reaching different conclusions than you'd like.

The truth is that the right IS the party of "no". The Party of the endless filibuster. The party of, "our only priority is to defeat Obama". It is
the party of the "rich white guy". It is the party of "war". It is the party of George W Bush and Mitt Romney.

Reading ATS doesn't change any of that.

People KNOW that the Dems would extend the tax cuts for the 98% today if the GOP wasn't standing in the way, politicising this to such a huge degree.

This crap by McConnell is a perfect example.

Instead of trying to work with anyone the right is simply playing more games...

The Dems are BY NO MEANS perfect. Not even close. I disagree with them frequently, but... the right has the stink of a desperation cynicism and fear.
That's not the media creating that; that's just what it is.

Here. Look at your fellow right-winger on this very thread, trying to get any scraps he can with his, "my gut tells me people voted for the GOP and
Obama to limit governement".

That's a fantasy, but that's the state of the GOP. Living in a dream, because their reality sucks.

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